I have an established Alibaba commercial account from a few past projects that gets me in with Chinese suppliers. The other day I was goofing off on Alibaba, and I noticed that a company was offering a 8000 watt RMS 32-inch subwoofer driver. The cost is$850 to $950 which would be plus shipping, and at 100 pounds, I am guessing that would mean something around $1,100 delivered. So I sent an inquiry about an evaluation pair, and they offered to send me 2 for $900 including shipping. Suddenly I had the potential for 2 32-inch drivers for $450 apiece.
This is the driver: 16000 Watt 32 Inch Subwoofer Pd32150b - Buy 32 Inch Subwoofer,24 Inch Subwoofer,18 Inch Subwoofers Product on Alibaba.com
The company makes an extensive line of speaker products. Its profile is here
Ningbo Fante Plastic Products Factory - Tweeter,Woofer
My questions are first whether anyone has an opinion whether it would make any sense to buy these, and second what one earth to do with them if I do. I seems like it would be fun to be the first kid on the block with a 32 inch sub, but I don't want to be stupid.
This is the driver: 16000 Watt 32 Inch Subwoofer Pd32150b - Buy 32 Inch Subwoofer,24 Inch Subwoofer,18 Inch Subwoofers Product on Alibaba.com
The company makes an extensive line of speaker products. Its profile is here
Ningbo Fante Plastic Products Factory - Tweeter,Woofer
My questions are first whether anyone has an opinion whether it would make any sense to buy these, and second what one earth to do with them if I do. I seems like it would be fun to be the first kid on the block with a 32 inch sub, but I don't want to be stupid.
Any data you get before you get the drivers in your hands could be suspect. There is only one way to know and that is to buy it and measure. That's a $900 gamble in which the odds are not in your favor. A 32 inch requires an awful lot of motor - and that would be expensive. If they put a motor on it that is approriate for even a premium 18, it is nowhere near enough. And if the cone is too light it will at best distort like hell at even modest excursion, or just fold up under pressure. 450 gram mms 21's are about as big as anyone goes.
"The bigger the speaker's the bigger the sound" really refers to the overall size of the enclosure stack, and the total amount of motor force driving it. Not to the diameter of the driver(s).
"The bigger the speaker's the bigger the sound" really refers to the overall size of the enclosure stack, and the total amount of motor force driving it. Not to the diameter of the driver(s).
Looks like the 24" frame. (Those decorative gasket pieces are only found on the 24" and 32" baskets currently.) The 32" is modular due to its size and has visible seams where it's assembled to build the driver. So, who knows what the actual driver looks like.
Someone is selling a 32 inch woofer for about $4000 that has a 2.3mm xmax.
Fostex FW800HS, 31.5" Super Woofer
For $4000 you could buy about ten woofers that would each beat the woofer for actual displacement.
Fostex FW800HS, 31.5" Super Woofer
For $4000 you could buy about ten woofers that would each beat the woofer for actual displacement.
Well, they will sound a lot different. Though, I don't get the point of a 32" sub either. It's not only extremely impractical and if they will ever stop working you'll never ever get a chance to recone them. Much better would be multiple 18" subs, that would be much more flexible, higher possible spl, same low range but with headroom at the upper end and more cone surface. You could also build a double bass array and practically eliminating the room modes which gives you so much more sound quality.. But I get it, that's to get something really big. Finally the chance to compensate for something..
Edit: 16000W.. ah well, that's pretty much a flat out lie.
Looking at the specs more, the motor is seriously weak. A single
330mmx170mmx30mm magnet just doesn't have the strength to create much flux in the gap, not for anything approaching worthwhile Xmax and not pushing something that will have a Mms of ~1200-1600g. It'd be a poor PA speaker at best, I'd venture, and terrible for home audio subwoofer duties. Unless they'd be willing to work with you and do something a bit more built up, you'd be best advised to look elsewhere if you want to play with monster drivers. Not that there aren't other options on Alibaba, take, for instance, this one. That's assuming, of course, that they aren't skimping on the parts that aren't visible. I understand that with most of these build houses, you really have to destructively examine the drivers to ensure they didn't skimp on the voice coils, etc and give you something that measures well only at small signals with a woofer tester setup, but not at usable levels, and that burns up soon as real power is applied.
Not that it wouldn't still be tempting... I'm a lover of the monster subs finding that the improved acoustic impedance matching of the large diaphragms makes for a better bass experience. I certainly love how much better things sound with my 24" vs. 18"s and smaller. I see that you're a Washingtonian, too? Hmm...it's almost tempting to see about going in with you on one to get the unit price down if you find one that actually looks like a good option. The only 32"s I know of on the market are either exceedingly high priced car audio focused subs or from a builder who has done some practices I've found ethically objectionable.
330mmx170mmx30mm magnet just doesn't have the strength to create much flux in the gap, not for anything approaching worthwhile Xmax and not pushing something that will have a Mms of ~1200-1600g. It'd be a poor PA speaker at best, I'd venture, and terrible for home audio subwoofer duties. Unless they'd be willing to work with you and do something a bit more built up, you'd be best advised to look elsewhere if you want to play with monster drivers. Not that there aren't other options on Alibaba, take, for instance, this one. That's assuming, of course, that they aren't skimping on the parts that aren't visible. I understand that with most of these build houses, you really have to destructively examine the drivers to ensure they didn't skimp on the voice coils, etc and give you something that measures well only at small signals with a woofer tester setup, but not at usable levels, and that burns up soon as real power is applied.
Not that it wouldn't still be tempting... I'm a lover of the monster subs finding that the improved acoustic impedance matching of the large diaphragms makes for a better bass experience. I certainly love how much better things sound with my 24" vs. 18"s and smaller. I see that you're a Washingtonian, too? Hmm...it's almost tempting to see about going in with you on one to get the unit price down if you find one that actually looks like a good option. The only 32"s I know of on the market are either exceedingly high priced car audio focused subs or from a builder who has done some practices I've found ethically objectionable.
Ok, let's list the facts.
Seriously, since when is it a good idea to give someone a good portion of your money if you don't know what you're getting? Yeah, I see, 32" is a status symbol. Yeah, you feel like the apex predator then, Tim Taylor pales beside you, you are the king of the forum then. Lose all senses just because ..well, the size.. ? I just don't understand why ppl lose their minds because of that.
- A company that only sells on alibaba? Not very trustworthy.
- You know noone who knows the manufacturer. You know noone who knows the product.
- You don't know anything about the drivers. No excursion, no Qts, no Vas, not even spl. Yes, I've seen there something with 'dB'. No, I don't think "96~101dB" says anything. At all.
- The voice coil diameter determines roughly how much power it can take. Etablished manufacturers with drivers with a 150mm VC give a peak power of 6000-8000W (P.Audio i.e.). Why would that (which is already peak power value) be suddenly not only topped but doubled by a unknown small manufacturer? That means 16000W is a flat out lie. Would you buy from a liar? Who lies about the thing he wants to sell you?
- Such big drivers are prone to tumble movement, to keep that under control it has to be built with experience and precision. Do you trust the seller he's perfectly capable of that?
- You'll most certainly never be able to get a recone kit or buy the same driver in a few years. Or even in a few months.
Seriously, since when is it a good idea to give someone a good portion of your money if you don't know what you're getting? Yeah, I see, 32" is a status symbol. Yeah, you feel like the apex predator then, Tim Taylor pales beside you, you are the king of the forum then. Lose all senses just because ..well, the size.. ? I just don't understand why ppl lose their minds because of that.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.